Folding fence



Jan. 15, 1957 5, JR" r 2,777,673

FOLDING FENCE Filed Aug. 9, 1954 FIG.3

INVENTORS ARTHUR MAY R. RIS MICHAEE FlNGE U ATTORNEYS United States Patent FOLDING FENCE Arthur E. May, In, Lake Grove, andBorls Michael Fingerut, Coos Bay, Greg.

Application August 9, 1954, Serial No. 448,488

6 Claims. (Cl. 256,3g3)

Our present invention comprises a foldable fence, of particular utility asa protector or. support. for garden plants, consisting, of a plurality of identical. wire frames and which is easy and economical toform and assemble in rnass production.

An. important object of the present invention is to provide a fence of the foregoing character which may be compactly packaged.

Another object of the present. invention is to provide a folding wire fence which may be folded in accordion fashion in either direction, so that no difficulty is experienced in folding the fence into a compact package, either for initial shipment, or for storagebetween periods of use by the owner.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a fence of: the foregoing character comprising a plurality offrames-held together by snap, hook means formed. on each frame, in which each frame comprises a pair of snap hooks turned in the same direction whereby the hooks may be formed in a single operation of a single forming die, andwhichhooksare so arranged-as. to permit the folding of the fencein either direction with equalease andv equal resulting compactness.

' A still further object of. the present invention is. to provide a. fence of the foregoing character which is formed of a plurality of identical-sections or frames, whereby the fabrication offences of any length involves the manufacture of a single type of frame.

A further object ofthe present invention is to provide afence. of the foregoing character which may be readily tailored to fit the immediate purposes of a user such as a gardener, without the necessity of supplying. special links or other devices for joining several lengths offence together, and. whereby: a single length of fencev may be readily broken up into. shorter lengths as. desired;

The foregoing and other objects and advantages. of the present invention will be more readily apparent from inspection of the accompanying drawings taken in connection with the following specification wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which a preferred form of the present invention is illustrated.

In the drawings,

Fig. l is a perspective view of a section of fence fabricated in accordance with the present invention asused to protect a plant;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view in elevation of a portion of the fence, with the end frame folded back over the next adjacent frame;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged end elevation of a single frame of the fence;

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section taken substantially along line 44 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged horizontal section taken substantially along line 5-5 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 6 is a plan view of four sections of fence folded upon themselves into a compact bundle.

The fence illustrated in Fig. 1 comprises a plurality of identical wire frames 10, each of which consists of an 2,777,673 Patented Jan. 19,57

upright wire 11 afiixed to a wire form comprising an intermediate upright portion '12, an upper arm 13, and a lower arm 14. The arms 13 and 14 are identical, extend, inthe same direction from the. upper and lower ends respectively of the upright portion 12, and terminate respectively in snap hooks 15 which are formed by bending the tips of thearms back to provide open bights. As seen most clearly in Fig. 5, the hooks 15 are elongated whereby considerable lateral play between fence frames is provided, and the mouths of the hooks are constricted sufiiciently to prevent accidental separation of the frames. However, the wire from which the forms are fabricated is sutiiciently resilient to permit forceful snapping together, or unsnapping, of the frames at any joint of the fence. The arms 13 and 14 are slightly inclined'toward each other whereby the form defines three sides of, a regular trapezoid, and whereby the hooks 15 may be readily engaged respectively with the upper and lower portions of the upright portion 12 of an adjacent frame.

The upright wire 11 is affixed to the arms 13-and 14 so as who parallel to the upright portion 12 of the form, the affixing being preferably accomplished by Welding, the welds being indicated at 2'3 and 21, respectively. The upright wires 12 project sufliciently below thelower arms 14 to provide unobstructed legs 16 which may be forced into the ground to hold the fence in position, and the tips of the legs may be pointed to facilitate their entry into hard. ground, the. pointed tips being indicated at- 22. The upper, end. of each of. the upright wires 11; is bent. back to. provide an open. bight 17 lying generally in the plane of the frame and, providing an orname n'tal effect at, the top of the fence, and alsoproviding a rounded handle at the top of each frame, to facilitatehandling of the'fence and forcing of the legs 16' into the ground. The free tip 18 of the bight 17 lies, close to. the surface of the upper arm 13, but is not affixed thereto, whereby the tip 18 may be sprung in either direction from its normal. position directly above the. arm 13. i

The upright wire 11 is preferably affixed to the arms and 14. 'so as to be offset slightly from the vertica'l centerline of the wire form, as illustrated being offset towardthe upright portion 12, whereby when two frames are folded upon, themselves as shown in Figs. 2, 4. and 6, the upright portions 11 will naturally fall side by side, thereby permitting the packaging of the fence, in a small, compact bundle. Due to their sloping arrangement, the upper and lower arms cross each other when the fence is folded. The. adjacent portions of the upper arms. ongage the tips 18 and slightly spring the tips. aside in either direction, depending upon the direction of folding of the fence. The uprights may be: situated along the vertical centerline of the section, in which case folding in the manner illustrated may nevertheless be accomplished due to the elongated bights of the hookslS permitting the uprights to be placed side by side rather than requiring thern to fall upon each other: a i

The. desired plurality of frames are assembled by snapping them together as. described, and theife nceis folded into a compact package and restrained by, a tie, car-wrapper label. The purcha'ser'may use the entire fence, or may break it into any number of sections according to his needs. The purchaser may also snap together several fences in order to form a long fence. There are no special joining members required, and the fence may be We claim:

l. A foldable fence comprising a plurality of identical wire frames, each of said frames comprising an upright wire adapted to be thrust into the ground, and a wire form affixed to said upright wire, said Wire form comprising an intermediate upright portion and a pair of arms extending laterally from the top and bottom respectively of said upright portion, said arms lying in an upright plane passing through said upright portion, extending in the same direction from the upright portion, and being inclined toward each other, whereby said form defines three sides of a regular trapezoid, each of said arms having an open snap hook at its end releasably embracing the upright portion of the wire form of an adjoining frame.

2. A foldablefence comprising a plurality of identical wire frames, each of said frames comprising an upright wire adapted to be thrust into the ground, and a wire form affixed to said upright wire, said wire form comprising an intermediate upright portionand a pair of integral arms extending laterally from the top and bottom a respectively of said upright portion, said arms lying in an upright plane passing through said upright portion, extending in the same direction from the upright portion, and being inclined toward each other, whereby said form defines three sides of a regular tapezoid, the end of each of said arms having an open snap hook embracing the upright portion of the wire form of an adjoining frame, said hooks being elongated to permit play between interconnected frames.

3. A foldable fence comprising a plurality of identical wire frames, each of said frames comprising an upright wire adapted to be thrust into the ground, and a wire form aflixed to said upright wire, said Wire form comprising an intermediate upright portion and a pair of integral arms extending laterally from the top and bottom respectively of said upright portion, said arms lying in an upright plane passing through said upright portion, extending in the same direction from the upright portion, and being inclined toward each other, whereby said form defines three sides of a regular trapezoid, the end of each of said arms being bent back in the same direction in planes at right angles to said upright plane to provide open snap hooks embracing the upright portion of the wire form of an adjoining frame, said upright wire being parallel to said upright portion of the wire frame and located on the side of the plane of said wire frame toward which said hooks extend.

4. A foldable fence comprising a plurality of identical wire frames, each of said frames comprising an upright wire adapted to be thrust into the ground, and a wire form afiixed to said upright wire, said wire form comprising an intermediate upright portion and a pair of integral arms extending laterally from the top and bottom respectively of said upright portion, said arms lying in an upright plane passing through said upright portion, extending in the same direction from the upright portion, and being inclined toward each other, whereby said form defines three sides of a regular trapezoid, the end of each of said arms being bent back in the same direction in planes at right angles to said upright plane to provide open snap hooks embracing the upright portion of the wire form of an adjoining frame, said upright wire being 4 parallel to said upright portion of the wire frame and located on the side of the plane of said wire frame toward which said hooks extend, and said upright wire being slightly offset from the vertical centerline of said wire frame.

5, A foldable fence comprising a plurality of identical wire frames, each of said frames comprising an upright wire adapted to be thrust into the ground, and a wire form affixed to said upright wire, said wire form comprising an intermediate upright portion and a pair of integral arms extending laterally from the top and bottom respectively of said upright portion, said arms lying in an upright plane passing through said upright portion, extending in the same direction from the upright portion, and being inclined toward each other, whereby said form defines three sides of a regular trapezoid, the end of each of said arms being bent back in the same direction in planes at right angles tosaid upright plane to provide open snap hooks embracing the upright portion of the wire form of an adjoining frame, said upright wire being parallel to said upright portion of the wire frame and located on the side of the plane of said wire frame toward which said hooks extend, and said upright wire having its upper. end bent into an open bight lying generally in the plane of the frame and having its tip terminating close to the upper surface of the upper one of said arms.

6. A foldable fence comprising a plurality of identical wire frames, each of said frames comprising an upright wire adapted to be thrust into the ground, and a wire form aflixed to said upright wire, said wire form comprising an intermediate upright portion and a pair of integral arms extending laterally from the top and bottom respectively of said upright portion, said arms lying in an upright plane passing through said upright portion, extending in the same direction from the upright portion, and being inclined toward each other, whereby said form defines three sides of a regular trapezoid, the end of each of said arms being bent back in the same direction in planes at right angles to said upright plane to provide open hooks embracing the upright portion of the wire form of an adjoining frame, said hooks being elongated to permit play between interconnected frames and constricted at their mouths to an extent to prevent accidental separation of interconnected frames, the wire of said forms being sufiiciently resilient to permit forceful association and disassociation of the frames, said upright wire being parallel to said upright portion of the wire frame, located on the side of the plane of said wire frame toward which said hooks extend, and being slightly offset from the vertical centerline of said wire frame toward said upright portion, and said upright wire having its upper end bent into an open bight lying generally in the plane of the frame and terminating slightly above the hooked end of the upper one of said arms.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 334,322 Williams Jan. 12, 1886 1,999,218 Tiryakian' Apr. 30, 1935 2,651,502 Carvelo et a1 Sept. 8, 1953 2,667,335 Lewis Jan. 26, 1954 

